1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to digital image processing, and more particularly to a three-dimensional (3D) imaging system and method.
2. Description of Related Art
When three-dimensional (3D) objects are mapped onto a two-dimensional (2D) image plane by prospective projection, such as an image taken by a still camera or a video camera, a lot of information, particularly 3D depth information, disappears. A 3D imaging system, however, can convey 3D information to a viewer by recording 3D visual information or by re-creating the illusion of depth. Although the 3D imaging technique has been known for over a century, the 3D display becomes more practical and popular owing to availability of high-resolution and low-price displays such as liquid crystal displays (LCDs).
Conventional 3D imaging systems use 2D-to-3D technique to create the illusion of depth according to original 2D images. However, the motion and stillness of objects in the 2D image have distinct effect on the performance of the 2D-to-3D transformation respectively. Unfortunately, the conventional 3D imaging systems are incapable of adapting to the distinct situations. Therefore, a need has arisen to propose a novel adaptive 3D imaging system that is capable of performing 2D-to-3D imaging adaptable to characteristics of the images.